1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fastener for joining a plurality of members (particularly panels and boards) of furniture, interior finishing work, partitions, scaffolding, guardrails, wooden structures etc., particularly a fastener that engages by deformation upon forced insertion or a fastener that provides strong immobilization of a connector when inserted into a mortise of rectangular section and rotated into forced contact with the inner surfaces of the mortise, to a connector for connecting members formed with dovetail mortises or mortises of rectangular section, to the resulting fastening structure, and to a fastening structure for joining a plurality of members using screws or other such fasteners.
2. Prior Art Statement
Conventionally, the various wooden members and various metal and plastic panel-like members of furniture, interior finishing work, partitions, scaffolding, guardrails, wooden structures etc. and have been joined by use of nails, screws, rivets etc. In addition, the various fasteners used in the assembly of structures, furniture etc. and the joining of the members of scaffolding, guardrails and other architectural and civil engineering structures have been developed solely for the purpose of joining the members.
These conventional fasteners have various drawbacks, such as that they do not allow disassembly and reassembly or, even if they do, are very troublesome to reuse, and that the connection between pieces tends to be loose when the same holes or threaded holes are reused. Moreover, the conventional fasteners are not designed to provide high strength in small numbers but are designed solely for the purpose of fastening with no thought to the strength of the joint.
When a plurality of members (particularly panels and boards) of furniture, interior finishing work, partitions, scaffolding, guardrails, wooden structures etc. are successively joined using conventional fasteners, the fasteners protrude from the surfaces of the members (panels or boards). This makes it difficult to treat end surface protrusions in the joined state. Since the structure has the fasteners attached to the outer surface of the members, moreover, even simple structures have to be finished with the fasteners protruding from the members. Owing to the relationship with the wall surface, therefore, the structure is degraded aesthetically by gaps present at the joined surfaces. Furthermore, in the case of buildings, room interior finish work, scaffolding, guardrails etc., the need for strength has made it necessary to install braces solely for reinforcement, sacrificing good esthetics. In addition, reinforcement of a right-angle joint between two panels or boards has required provision of angles at the corners. Such angles may also spoil the appearance of the structure. They are also liable to provide insufficient strength because the bending moment acts on only the members.